mammalia: ■ CETACEA. 
S2 
Fhysalis. 
Burntisland iOth June 1762, and wliidi, in size and other particulars, agreed 
with the one which came under his own observation. 
I have brought these three descriptions together, under the conviction 
that they all refer to one species. Hunter, it is true, considers his indivi- 
dual as belonging to the Balasna rostrata of Eabricius (Faun. Groen. p. 40.), 
but the description there given conveys nothing precise in form or dimen- 
sions, except that it is the least of the baleen whales, and it may not differ 
from the Boops of the same author. Fabricius, in describing the last species, 
states, “ nostrum rectum, elongatum magis magisque angustatus, desinens 
tamen apice satis lato obtusoque. Ante nares in vertice capitis tres ordines 
convexitatura circularium, huic forsan ])eculiare quid. Maxilla inferior su- 
periore parum brevior strictiorque versus superiorem oblique tendens.” 
“ Magnitude ejus interdum 50-54 pedum p. 30. These characters indicate 
a species different from the one described by Sibbald and Neill, and may justi- 
fy the adoption of the Bnlaenoptera. jubartes of M. Lacepede, characterised as 
having tuberosities near the blow -holes. Sir Charles Gieseck6, in the article 
Greenland (Edin. Encyc. vol. x. p. 400.), states that the B. Boops comes 
regularly to the coast about the end of July. It is “ a smaller kind of whale, 
its length being from 20 to 25 feet. It has a fin on its back, and also a pro- 
tuberance which grows towards the tail.” “■ The whalebones of this species 
rarely exceed the length of one foot.” Are Ave to rely on the size in the 
determination of the species, and consider the B. rostrata as a distinct species 
limited to 25 feet in length, and represented by the rostrata of Fabricius and 
Hunter, and the hoops of Giesecke? Future observers may determine the 
point. ^ III 
Both the B. mmculus and hoops may be considered as regular inhabitants 
of our seas. On the 20th August 182*2, I observed an individual of the latter 
species at Longhope, Orkney. 
Ill 
Gen. XXX. FHYSALIS. Razor-Back.— Skin destitute 
of pectoral folds. 
47. F. vulgaris . — Length reaching 4p a hundred feet. 
Balsena Physalis, Fah. Fauna Gr. p. 35 — Walker's Essays, p. 528 Ba- 
Isenoptera Gibbar, Scoresby.^ Arc. Beg. i. 478. 
According to Fabricius, the length of the baleen does not exceed a foot. It |;J 
swims swiftly, and is with difficulty captured. Mr Scorseby states that he | | • 
has made several ineffectual attempts to secure this species. The animal, I , 
when exerting its energies, dives and swims with such rapidity as to defy |.||! 
the ingenuity of the whaler. He states, from report, that it has been found j 
105 feet in length, and 38 in cirfumference ; “head small when compared! y 
with that of the common whale ; fins long and narrow ; tail 12 feet broad, ;:- ,j 
finely formed ; whalebone 4 feet in length, thick, bristly, and narrow ; blub- ■ 
her 6 or 8 inches thick, of indifferent quality ; colour bluish-black on the back, ^ 
and bluish- grey on the belly; skin smooth, excepting about the sides of thei 
thorax, where longitudinal rugae or sulci occur.” From his own observa- 
tion, he states, that “ it seldom lies quietly on the surface of the water when| j 
blowing, but usually has a velocity of four or five miles an hour ; and Avhen|;|[ 
it descends, it very rarely throws its tail in the air, which is a very generalf j 
practice with the mysticetus. 
The individual mentioned by Sibbald (Phail. p. 84.) as having come ashore] 
at Boyne in Banffshire, probably belonged to this species. It was 80 feet] 
in length, exclusive of the tail. Dr Walker states, that this species some-J 
times comes ashore on the Island of Lewis. It is, however, in all probabili-J 
ty, only a straggler. 
Belies of a whale, of a large size, and probably belonging to Balcenoptera^ 
muscuhts^ or to the preceding species, occur in the marine diluvium of the Forth^; Ir 
